Meeting planners have flexed their agility during the COVID-19 pandemic, with last-minute digital pivots going from chaotic to almost rote in a matter of weeks. But cybersecurity is often a casualty of this agility, says Victoria Copans at the Event Manager Blog.

“As event planners, we are given extremely personal and valuable information on our attendees and stakeholders,” Copans says. “[I]t’s our responsibility to safeguard it and make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

Planners need to understand their data and security vulnerabilities instead of simply handing off responsibility to vendors. At the same time, sourcing suppliers wisely will help planners keep attendees, sponsors, and speakers safe. Questions about cybersecurity and data privacy protocols should be on planners’ list of queries when approaching potential suppliers.

To help prevent security breaches, Copans suggests using individual registration links (and using them appropriately), establishing a code of conduct, using a password manager, approaching integrations with your event platform carefully, deploying a VPN, and considering two-factor authentication.

How Leaders Can Get Teams to “Buy In”

Be candid and transparent to avoid surprises: https://t.co/KkEjdKr5JF#associationhustle #associations #assnchat #associationmanagement #leadership #thoughtleadership

— Big Red M (@bigredmco) July 29, 2020

Leading a team is one thing. Getting a genuine endorsement from team members is another. At The Moery Company blog, JP Moery lays out the principles leaders can use to make sure the people on their teams aren’t just following along but instead are committed to an organization’s values and mission.

Qualities for leaders to embrace: transparency and the ability to share a long-term vision. On the flip side, leaders should steer clear of making false promises and plunking down “the boss card.”

“Your team is watching you,” Moery says. “My guess is your people are looking at whatever is in front of them, so you need to get out in front of things more because that’s your role as the leader of the organization.”

Other Links of Note

Rev up your Instagram Stories game with these 15 apps recommended by Hootsuite.

With few benchmarks for conference success in today’s environment, meeting planners are building the ship as they sail forward, says Lisa Block at Velvet Chainsaw.

Rethink your press releases to extract more value from them. The Nonprofit Marketing Guide gives six tips on how to do that.

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